When we reconnected at a Middlebury Christmas party a couple of years ago, she informed me, being perhaps slightly under the influence of holiday cheer, that her self-confident college persona had been a ruse—that she was insecure, alienated and frankly didn't know how to have a good time.

Don't be alarmed, however: fans of Vile's distinctive deadpan mumbling and the band's gently rolling and Dylanesque guitar rock will still find their constituency represented – simply stated in a larger and arguably more self-confident fashion.

Rattigan reinforces the point by contrasting Alma's brash, self-confident lover, George, with Edith's sexually diffident son who is the same age but driven to seek worldly experience with a prostitute.